By Ian S Palmer
The DC Armory in Washington, D.C. will be the site of the Shawn Porter vs Paulie Malignaggi bout this Saturday, April 19. The 12-round bout will be for Porter’s IBF Welterweight Championship and can be seen in America on the Showtime network and in Canada on Super Channel. This is Porter’s first defence of the title he recently won on December 7 by beating former champion Devon Alexander via a unanimous decision.
Porter fought well against Alexander and deserved the belt, but Malignaggi has given every opponent trouble throughout his career due to his excellent boxing skills. The 26-year-old Porter of Akron, Ohio is undefeated so far in his pro career with a record of 23-0-1 with 14 Kos while the 33-year-old Malignaggi of Brooklyn, New York has a mark of 33-5 along with 7 Kos.
The first thing that usually jumps out regarding Malignaggi’s record is his lack of knockouts. This is simply due to the fact that he doesn’t have much in the way of power and he knows this. Therefore, he tries to outbox his opponents and he’s usually successful at it. A prime example of this was his unanimous decision win over fellow New Yorker Zab Judah in his last outing on December 7. He also gave former champion Adrien Broner all he could handle in the bout before that last June, but dropped a controversial split decision to the Cincinnati native.
Malignaggi has fast hands and can adapt to his opponent’s tactics quite easily. He’s been stopped a couple of times in his career, but he’s been on his feet when the bouts have been halted. He’s still got a pretty good chin, but unfortunately his power has never developed over his career. Porter also has a lot of skills, but doesn’t have the experience that Malignaggi does. The only blemish on his record so far is a draw with Julio Diaz back in December of 2012. However, he avenged that by taking the rematch.
Malignaggi has a slight edge in height at 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-7 and has just a half-inch reach advantage at 70 inches. He also has a lot of heart and determination, which is something Porter also possesses. Malignaggi has beaten some very good fighters, but he usually falls just a little short against the cream of the crop. However, at this stage of his career, Porter isn’t yet considered to be an elite boxer. He could be someday, but not yet.
Age hasn’t really affected Malignaggi as of yet and he’s just as good now as he was in his prime. He’s focused and professional and has the intelligence to adjust in the ring whenever he has to. He knows all the tricks of the trade and will probably need them against a young and hungry boxer such as Porter. If Malignaggi uses his superior mobility and hand speed he should be able to frustrate the champion and take his title from him by a close decision.
